Striking gold

Always a rewarding part of the country to explore, the meandering country lanes of Victoria’ Goldfields never fail to inspire the curious. Here you’ll discover quintessential Aussie country scenery as sunlight filters through overhanging eucalyptus where parrots shriek and cattle graze and kangaroos hop. In the late afternoon, colours seep out of the landscape in ochre and violet and burnt yellow, enfolding sleepy gold-rush towns in magnificent colour.

The Goldfields don’t just rely on expectations and vistas, however. These landscapes are rich with history that lures visitors, and there are also plenty of surprises to add depth to a holiday. The significant history of Chinese miners, superb artworks in regional galleries, Melbourne-style laneways, cellar doors, fine Thai curries in rural pubs – it’s all too easy to blow through this region in a day or two, but take your time and you’ll uncover plenty of reasons to linger.

The traditional Goldfields touring route starts in Ballarat, takes in Creswick, Castlemaine, Maldon, Bendigo, Dunolly and Avoca, and finishes in Stawell or Ararat. Ballarat is an impressive start – in its 1850s heyday the town had 56 churches and nearly 500 hotels, while the last mine closed in 1918 and not much happened afterwards, leaving Ballarat well preserved. This grand country town is dotted with colonial-era banks and hotels and the size of the nuggets in the Gold Museum is another eye-popping testament to the town’s former riches.

You’ll already find the unexpected in Ballarat, including an excellent dining scene and the Bendigo Art Gallery, which has one of the country’s best regional collections of Australian art and hosts outstanding international exhibitions. As you drift along the backroads towards Creswick, alpacas in fields will supply another surprise in a countryside more associated with sheep. Creswick itself has a stately main street and eccentric little museum whose knickknacks range from Chinese rice-grinding stones to Norman Lindsay prints. Stop by Le Péché Gourmand for a pear tart or opera cake – these rural towns have eclectic food choices.

Another 15 minutes brings you to Clunes, a once-important colonial town now sleepily distant from the tourist rush. Train buffs might want to drive further north to Maryborough, which Mark Twain once described as a ‘railway station with a town attached’ – the grandeur of the 1892 station reminds of busy gold-rush days. Today Maryborough is an antiques and wine centre. If you’re determined to find your own nugget, Coiltek Gold Centre runs prospecting courses and hires metal detectors, though you’ll need a prospecting licence. The countryside all around is dotted with mullock heaps, old mining machinery and ghost towns such as Havelock.

Alternatively, head straight from Creswick to Castlemaine and Maldon, two other rural towns made grand by gold but now cluttered with cafés and boutiques. They lie at the centre of Mt Alexander, once one of the world’s richest shallow alluvial goldfields that drew an international stampede to rural Victoria in the 1850s. At one time, Maldon had a greater population than Melbourne. Ornate hotels and other buildings still stand, while miners cottages are now weekend retreats for Melbournians. 

Abandon your car at Maldon for a while to ride the Victoria Goldfields Railway, a restored steam train that takes you through forest to Castlemaine. The town’s Art Deco art gallery has fine Aussie art, while Buda Historic Home, once the 1860s residence of a Hungarian silversmith and his five arty and unmarried daughters, provides a glimpse into the middle-class life of the day. 

Your ultimate destination is Bendigo, whose wine region flies below the radar but is notable for big reds such as Shiraz and Cabernet. Balgownie Estate and Sandhurst Ridge Winery are nearby, but venture further east and Michelton Wines has an underground Aboriginal art gallery and Tahbilk Wines an eco-trail. Bendigo itself now has a lively and innovative wine-bar and restaurant scene. Investigate the graffiti-scrawled Melbourne-style laneways and you’ll find taco joints, French cafés and champagne bars.

Bendigo was built on the grid pattern much favoured by Victorian town planners, but its architecture has burst out in ornate columns and icing-sugar balconies, stucco and plasterwork; fountains feature prancing nymphs and horses with mermaid tails. You can trawl through vintage stores and furniture boutiques as well as eateries, and dine on Mediterranean cuisine in restored buildings such as GPO Bendigo. Swing into Bendigo Art Gallery for its impressive art collection.

Bendigo’s new groove is complemented by traditional sights, not least Sovereign Hill open-air museum, which recreates an 1850s mining town complete with costumed staff. For a different view on the gold-mining era, Golden Dragon Museum outlines the Goldfields’ Chinese history and displays tea sets, ceramics, calligraphy scrolls. You can also admire the world’s longest dragon, which takes 55 volunteers to support it on its occasional sorties.

The Joss House or temple on the edge of Bendigo was built in the 1860s from handmade bricks and dedicated to the God of War, and is still used as a place of worship. The interior is cluttered with candlesticks, oil burners, beautiful lanterns, and wood panels inscribed with poems. The red colour of the walls is the traditional Chinese colour denoting strength and good luck.

The most alternative sight in all the Goldfields, however, is surely the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion at Myers Flat outside town. The 50-metre-high stupa is a startling sight, as is the world’s biggest jade Buddha: just another example of the surprises that await in Victoria’s Goldfields.